Club Cola is a German

cola Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imita ...

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

. Originally manufactured at the request of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

and other governmental organizations, Club Cola was created in order for

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

to have its own cola soft drink that was similar in taste and appearance to those sold in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

. The government announced a project to create the drink at the 1966 Leipzig Spring Fair. On 19 April 1967 the first Club Cola was bottled in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

. This soft drink was so popular with East German citizens that Club Cola was awarded with ''gold in the category soft drinks'' at the 1972

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

spring fair.

Club Cola today

In 1992, ''Club Cola'' was reintroduced to the German market under the new management of Spreequell Mineralbrunnen GmbH and is now available all over the country. It benefited from ''

Ostalgie In German culture, ''Ostalgie'' () is nostalgia for aspects of life in Communist East Germany. It is a portmanteau of the German words '' Ost'' (east) and ''Nostalgie'' (nostalgia). Its anglicised equivalent, ostalgia (rhyming with "nostalgia" ...

'', nostalgia for East Germany, but is also being promoted as a youthful brand today.

References

External links

New Club Cola producer's official website
{{Colas Cola brands Products introduced in 1967 German drinks Ostalgie Goods manufactured in East Germany